Indiglo feature on a Timex Ironman digital watch with a negative display Indiglo feature on a Timex Weekender analog watch Electroluminescent backlight on a Casio G-Shock watch with a negative display Indiglo is a product feature on watches marketed by Timex, incorporating an electroluminescent panel as a

backlight A backlight is a form of illumination used in liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) that provides light from the back or side of a display panel. LCDs do not produce light on their own, so they require illumination—either from available light, ambie ...

for even illumination of the watch dial. The brand is owned by Indiglo Corporation, which is in turn solely owned by Timex, and the name derives from the word

indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

, as the original watches featuring the technology emitted a green-blue light.

History

Timex introduced the Indiglo technology in 1992 in their ''Ironman'' watch line and subsequently expanded its use to 70% of their watch line, including men's and women's watches, sport watches and chronographs.

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...

introduced their version of electroluminescent backlight technology in 1995. The Indiglo name was later licensed to other companies, such as Austin Innovations Inc., for use on their electroluminescent products. From 2006-2011, the

Timex Group Timex Group B.V., or Timex Group, is an American–Dutch holding company headquartered in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands and Middlebury, Connecticut. It is the corporate parent of several global watchmaking companies including Timex Group USA, Inc. ...

marketed a line of high-end quartz watches under the

TX Watch Company The TX Watch Company was launched in 2006 by the Timex Group, an international holding group and corporate parent of global watchmaking companies, including Timex Group USA, Timex Group USA, Inc., TMX Philippines, Inc., and Timex Group India Ltd. ...

brand, using a proprietary six-hand, four-motor, micro-processor controlled movement. To separate the brand from Timex, the movements had luxury features associated with a higher-end brand, e.g., sapphire crystals and stainless steel or titanium casework — and used hands treated with

super-luminova Super-LumiNova is a brand name under which strontium aluminate–based non-radioactive and nontoxic photoluminescent or afterglow pigments for illuminating markings on watch dials, hands and bezels, etc. in the dark are marketed. When act ...

luminescent pigment for low-light legibility — rather than indiglo technology. When the Timex Group migrated the microprocessor-controlled, multi-motor, multi-hand technology to its Timex brand in 2012, it created a sub-collection marketed as ''Intelligent Quartz'' (IQ). The line employed the same movements and capabilities from the TX brand, at a much lower price-point -- incorporating indiglo technology rather than the super-luminova pigments.

Design

Indiglo backlights typically emit a distinct greenish-blue color and evenly light the entire display or dial. Certain Indiglo models, e.g., Timex Datalink USB, use a negative

liquid-crystal display A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other Electro-optic modulator, electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liq ...

so that only the digits are illuminated, rather than the entire display.

References

External links

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How does an Indiglo watch work?
at

HowStuffWorks HowStuffWorks is an American commercial infotainment website founded by professor and author Marshall Brain, to provide its target audience an insight into the way many things work. The site uses various media to explain complex concepts, term ...

Overview of electroluminescent display technology, and the discovery of electroluminescence

Products introduced in 1992 Luminescence Trademarks Watch brands Lighting Display technology Timex Group {{electronics-stub